Upsala journal of medical sciences
-
In order to study if oxygen saturation in mixed venous blood (SvO2) could be used as a marker for heart performance, oxygen delivery (DO2) or consumption (VO2) in critically ill patients 134 hemodynamic measurements were performed by a thermodilution pulmonary catheter in 23 patients after abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery. These data were compared to 200 measurements performed in 30 patients with septic shock. When analysed on an individual basis SvO2 was only closely related to DO2 or VO2 in a minority of the patients. ⋯ On the other hand SvO2 was found to be an excellent marker for oxygen extraction (OER) in both groups of patients (median r = 0.98. p < 0.0001). In conclusion, the present study shows that SvO2 could not be used as a reliable marker for the important hemodynamic variables CI, DO2 or VO2 in critically ill patients. However, SvO2 was found to be an excellent marker for OER.